TheCosmosphere museum located in Hutchinson, Kansas maintains a world-class space artifact restoration program. With more than 100 major projects to its credit — including the Apollo 13 command module "Odyssey" and Mercury spacecraft "Liberty Bell 7," the Cosmosphere is considered a leader in restoration science, a field that it pioneered two decades ago.

The Cosmosphere's current restoration is NASA's Gemini 6 spacecraft. Commanded by Wally Schirra and piloted by Thomas Stafford, Gemini 6 launched in 1965 to fly the first rendezvous with another crewed spacecraft, Gemini 7.

Gemini 6 arrived at the Cosmosphere on Oct. 2, 2003 from the Saint Louis Science Center in Missouri, where it had been on display. After restoration is complete, the capsule will be placed on exhibit in Oklahoma City.

This journal, prepared in partnership with collectSPACE, will track the Cosmosphere's progress restoring Gemini 6.

The capsule was skinned with a plexiglass covering. This aspect made a thorough internal examination impossible.

Overall, the capsule was in excellent condition. There were no signs of active deterioration/corrosion.

Exterior

The exterior shingles were in very good condition. All panels appeared to be original and intact. No restoration will be required to these areas.

Exterior stenciling on the capsule was faded, as was the American flag. Fading appeared to have been gradual and done over a period of time. The stenciling did not appear to be actively cracking or flaking, but it will be more closely examined while restoration is underway.

The rear heatshield was in excellent condition.

The exterior plexiglass skin was in very poor shape. It was showing signs of active degradation. In several places the plexi was cracked and missing attachment screws. Overall, the plexi is discolored (beginning to yellow).

Interior

There are several interior components and hardware pieces missing. These were probably removed after the mission.

The National Air and Space Museum recently transferred several pieces of Gemini hardware to the Cosmosphere. Among these pieces were several Gemini 6 components. These will be reinstalled back into the capsule.

Other missing components will be replaced, as possible, using original Gemini hardware. The missing components were as follows:

Began removing protective plexi covering. Very strong smell of off gassing.

Conducted an initial analysis of spacecraft. Overall in good condition. Pilot side hatch has more corrosion than anticipated.

Overall, the exterior of the capsule is very dirty. There is some corrosion. The majority of this is probably a result of the protective plexi cover (dust build-up in groves of shingles is great). The exterior of the spacecraft will need a great deal of cleaning.

The interior is dirty and full of dust. More mockup hardware than first thought.

Jim Remar is director of collections, exhibits and buildings for the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.